Safety still top concern for new library

Cadott resident Char Seibel says safety is a big concern at the intersection of State Hwy. 27 and Mills Street in Cadott, during a Cadott Library Public Information Session June 20, which was a sentiment echoed by other attendees at the meeting. The proposed location for a new library building is the northeast corner of that intersection. Photo by Julia Wolf

By Julia Wolf

As part of the planning process for a new Cadott Community Library building, a community information meeting took place at the Cadott High School, June 20. The safety of the proposed location, at the corner of State Hwy. 27 and Mills Street, near the elementary school, was the top concern of community members present at the meeting.

“We’re excited to be working toward this accessible and efficient, welcoming, new library and believe it will greatly benefit Cadott community,” said Cookie Kaste, president of the Library Board of Trustees.

Kaste says they would like a library space that has more room for story hour and activities, besides addressing the accessibility issues of the current building.

“Former library directors and trustees have been working on getting a new library for almost 15 years now,” said Kaste.

A presentation, similar to that shared at the informational meeting held in April, was also shared with attendees. The presentation touched on the fundraising plans, building design and the timeline that brought them to this point.

Concerning the site location, Cory Scheidler, Cedar Corp, says the plan has the library set back from the state highway, so people’s view of oncoming traffic is not blocked. The access for the proposed library is also off Mills Street, so the intersection is not congested further.

“Now, there is some access and pedestrian control that we do have to solve for yet, and that’s in the next step of the design,” said Scheidler.

He says they are going to work on plans of how to get students to, and from, the elementary and high school buildings to the library, in the next step.

“There’s discussion evolving with the DOT and hopefully, we work trough that,” said Scheidler.

Library director Samma Johnson also took time to explain what the benefits are of the proposed study room spaces and a multipurpose room in the library. She says they want dedicated spaces for larger events and programs, whether those activities are library activities or hosted by community organizations. Johnson says there are venue locations available like Halfway Hall, the Lions Pavilion, the school, churches or the VFW hall.

“There are options, but not all those options work for all people,” said Johnson. “And the whole point of the library, is that we are there. We exist for everyone.”

Johnson says the library could invite in authors to speak, or host events like Smokey Bear’s birthday or Badger talks through the UW-System, if they had a larger space.

She says the area would also serve as a space for community events, such as those hosted by non-profits.

The larger of the two study rooms would be geared toward groups of a dozen or so people, and would work for book club meetings or a small Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) room.

Johnson says the smaller study room would work for individuals to three to four people, for things like studying, job interviews, telehealth appointments or work meetings.

She says there would also not only be more space for materials, like books, DVDs and games, but also dedicated spaces for children, teens and adults.

“I love the library of things,” said Johnson. “We currently circulate board games and we’re starting to circulate sports equipment.”

During the time for members of the public to ask questions or make comments, the plans for the small road to the north of the proposed library site, near the historical society, were brought up. Scheidler says the DOT will need to look into it more first, but didn’t say anything about closing that section. In his experience, it could become a right-turn only.

A number of attendees still expressed concerns about the safety of the proposed location, which drew applause from others in attendance. Many of those who spoke, said they see the need for a new building, but don’t think that location is the place to build it.

Char Seibel, resident, says she knows of accidents that happened on that intersection and those involved are lucky they are alive.

“Safety is a big concern on that intersection,” said Seibel. She says she understands that they library board and building committee have done a lot of work to find a location, but thinks they should look at spots that just became available.

“We’ve got to be able to be a little bit flexible yet on this project,” said Seibel.

Resident Toni Kenealy, who lives two houses off the highway and also helps at the historical society next to the proposed site, says she sees a lot of large trucks, campers and vehicles hauling recreational gear traveling State Hwy. 27.

“But, you cannot get on the highway,” said Kenealy, adding she sometimes has to wait a while to be able to drive the few blocks to the historical society.

She says she has safety concerns about children and adults walking along State Hwy. 27, especially if they are alone.

“Please, keep the library downtown, close to downtown, so it’s easy for us to get to,” said Kenealy.

Others echoed the sentiment that they would like to see the library downtown.

Kaste says they looked at options downtown. She says she can’t see them continuing to invest time and money to check if a space is buildable into other, potential buildings for the library.

She says they understand the desire to keep the library downtown, because people like downtown, but says her fear, if they don’t keep this going, is that they just won’t have a library.

“To me, if it’s safe enough for an ice cream shop and for kids to play in the playground, if it’s safe enough to have softball games, if it’s safe enough to have Lions bratfest and those things all happen on a regular basis, it should be safe enough for kids and adults to use the library,” said Kaste.

John Thompson, Inspiring and Facilitating Library Success (IFLS) Library System, says there are special requirements for library buildings, because of the weight of books.

“All the book weight has a tremendous amount of pressure on that floor,” said Thompson. “And most of the buildings downtown, if they have a basement, would not be sufficient to house a library with that floor load.”

He says the space could be configured, with larger aisles and shorter shelving, but that requires a larger square footage.

Thompson says they looked at downtown buildings and the needed reconfigurations would add cost to the project.

Tearing down a building or multiple buildings, would include the cost to acquire the building, demolition, mitigation of any hazardous materials and then, building the new structure.

Resident Anson Albarado, who is a former Cadott Village Board member, said he did not realize downtown would change so much and says he thinks the library should be downtown. He also encouraged the library board to follow up on any donation offers that would help make that happen.

Kaste says the listening sessions at the beginning of the planning process didn’t gain much interest. She says a small group of people, passionate about the library, ended up taking on the task of trying to get a new library building.

“And really have invested many, many hours,” said Kaste. She says, if the community really wants them to consider other locations for the library, they are going to need more help.

“We just don’t have enough time,” said Kaste. “There aren’t that many of us. We’re volunteers.”